Minimum Wages / Bodger: My Part In His Downfall

Last year Robb released the vinyl-only album Minimum Wages, 9 songs performed on acoustic guitar, with guest appearances from Boff Whalley, Fae Simon & John Forrester on vocals, Jude Abbott on brass, Jason Pegg on accordion & Jenny Carr on piano. The album was very well-received; “a timeless album for the times” (****RNR), Folk Radio UK named it as one of their top 10 albums of the year, & Ian Anderson said it would have been one of Podwireless’s CDs of the year – if it had been on CD. The album has its CD release as part of a double album with Bodger: My Part In His Downfall, a collection of 20 songs chronicling the events of the last three years – “the worst of possible times to have the worst of governments too.” 

There are voice & acoustic guitar based tracks, 2 ukulele songs, & various contributions from Irregulars Sian Allen (trumpet), John Forrester (bass), Ali Gavan (drums), Arvin Johnson (drums), Linze Maesterosa (clarinet), Fae Simon (b/vox, lead vocal on track 190, & from Irregular Records recording artiste & award-winning poet Roger Stevens (piano). The recording of the album’s last track “Goodbye” was finished on July 6th - & the following day the Prime Minister resigned. Irregular Records decided to release the album to celebrate the departure of this most murderously lazy, corrupt, mendacious & incompetent of Prime Ministers. The double album includes a 12 page booklet with notes for all the songs.

Minimum Wages: 1: Fiddler in the Rain, 2: Last Night of the Proms, 3: Hartlepool ASDA, Saturday Morning, 4: Great Aunt Gladys, 5: My Quiet Flame, 6: Sister Reynardine, 7: This Is Your History, 8: Minimum Wages, 9: My Very Best of Friends

Bodger: My Part In His Downfall: 1: Well Done Little England, 2: The Cheese & Wine of Privilege, 3: Barry Bucket, 4: Common Sense, 5: Don’t Forget to Wash Your Hands, 6: Tony Skinner’s Lad, 7: Blue Light on a Red Brick Wall, 8: When the Leaves Have All Fallen, 9: Jack & Jill Are Good for the Economy, 10: Chipping Sodoffbury, 11: Shut Up & Just Go Xmas Shopping, 12: We Can All Join a Union, 13: The Plague Ship, 14: What a Week it Was When the Pubs Reopened, 15: Freedom Day, 16: You’ve Only Got Yourself to Blame, 17: Well Done Little England, 18: The Worst Prime Minister in the World, 19: Sunlight on the Wall, 20: Goodbye